Don’t Need Time Off? Sell it to Your Boss

The Associated Press reports that some companies are beginning to allow their employees to buy and sell vacation time, for those times they need an extra day to “unwind” from travel, to spend more time with a newborn, or just get some extra cash in their pockets.

In the Society for Human Resource Management’s soon-to-release survey of employers, 9 percent of employers allowed workers to cash out unused paid time off. Five percent let employees purchase additional days through a payroll deduction. And 7 percent allowed employees to donate time to their coworkers.

“When times are a little tight, this benefit really doesn’t cost a lot of extra money to employers to provide,” Julie Stich, research director for the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, told the AP. “It’s offered by more forward-thinking or flexible-type employers.”